I had a learning twofer today!
1. When pinning blocks together, always pin from the inside to the outside of the seam and pin at a 45 degree angle to the seam, instead of a 90 degree angle. I've always pinned from the inside to the outside...Maybe, because I'm left handed. But, I didn't know how handy pinning at a 45 degree angle could be, especially when there are odd angled seams in the blocks.
One reason to do this is that when you need to hold a seam on the block open, or closed to one side, the angle lets you get right up to that seam with one side of the presser foot, so that when you remove the pin, the presser foot will then hold that seam allowance down in place. Also, when pinning at a 45 degree angle and sewing through an open seam, you can hold both seam allowances down with only one pin. Maybe all of you knew this already, but it's news to me and I've been sewing for decades. You think Ida figgered this out by now.
2. I was always told to backstitch when sewing garments. When I got to learning how to quilt, I had a hard time letting go of that habit and for good reason. Some of my seams came out without having that extra security of a locked stitch at the beginning and end of a seam. "Why not backstitch?" I asked. "Too much bulk," the quilting gurus replied. "Oh...hummm."
Now, I don't backstitch, but I do FINE STITCH at the beginning and end of a seam. I put my stitch regulator on very close to zero stitches per inch for a few stitches and then move it down to about 12 stitches per inch for the length of the seam. Near the end of the seam, I move it back up to zero. I can even chain stitch this way. Those fine stitches hold the seam ends together very nicely and they aren't that hard to remove, if I have to open up a seam and redo it. This method works especially well if you are sewing small pieces together. Maybe you folks all knew this one too. I swear, I've got to get off of this mountain more often and see what everyone else is up to.
Sew on!
~ C